Same Name Crimes

Dade County, FL

Thomas James

Jan 17, 1990

Thomas Raynard James was convicted of shooting to death
Francis McKinnion during a home invasion. Evidence points to a Thomas James
as the killer, but a different Thomas James. Police apparently
knew that Thomas Raynard James was not the real killer, so they waited 6
months to charge him, at which time he could not establish where he was or
who he was with on the evening of the murder. (JD)
[9/05]

Orange County, FL

Malenne Joseph

Dec 2007 (Conway)

A home contractor hired a black woman with an accent to paint
a home in Conway, an unincorporated suburb of Orlando, FL. When the
contractor failed to pay her, she reacted by going through the house and
splashing it with paint, causing thousands of dollars in damage. The
contractor later told Orlando police Detective Jose Varela that he knew the
woman as “Marlene,” and he gave him her cell phone number. Varela
dialed it and got a woman who answered to “Marlene” and who confessed to the
crime but would not come down to the police station.

Varela found out from the woman who owned the damaged house
that she had seen a black man driving a truck slowly in the neighborhood. This behavior raised her suspicions enough to write down the tag number. Varela traced the tag number to a man with a last name of Joseph. He
then went fishing through the motor vehicle records for a black woman named
“Marlene,” who might be a relative of the truck owner. He came up with
a Malenne Joseph. He got a photocopy of her driver's license picture
and showed it to the owner of the house and her sister. Both
identified Malenne as the painter who worked at the house.

Malenne, a Haitian woman, had an accent like that ascribed to
the painter. She was brought to trial in June 2010. Although she
said she was not a painter and had never met any of the people who accused
her, she was identified in court as the perpetrator. Over defense
objections, Detective Varela testified that she confessed to the crime over
the phone. Malenne was convicted of felony criminal mischief and sent
to jail.

When new lawyers took over her case they found out the cell
phone number Varela had dialed belonged to a woman named “Merline” whose
last name was not Joseph. Like their client, the woman was Haitian and
shared some facial similarities with her. The lawyers also found work
records which showed Malenne was working elsewhere on two of the days she
supposedly was painting. When they informed the contractor that their
client was 5'2" tall, he said he knew she could not be the painter as he was
5'6" and remembered the painter as being slightly taller than himself, about
5'7". He signed an affidavit reversing his trial identification. Malenne was released from jail after being incarcerated for 77 days. A
motion was filed to overturn her conviction. Prosecutors decided not
to charge the other “Marlene” with the crime as the statute of limitations
for it had run out. (Orlando
Sentinel) (TIJ)
[12/10]

Wayne County, MI

Dominique Brim

Apr 15, 2002 (Lincoln Park)

A security guard at the Sears store in Lincoln Park stopped a
woman leaving the store on April 15, 2002 with $1,300 in unpaid merchandise. In an attempt to get away, the woman severely bit the guard. After
being arrested, the woman was taken to a police station where she told
police her address, her phone number, that she was 15-years-old, and that
her name was Dominique Brim. She was allowed to leave without being
booked.

Two weeks later, 15-year-old Dominique Brim was charged with
retail fraud and felony assault. She claimed she had not been at the
store on April 15 and that she had not been arrested. In court,
several Sears employees, including the security guard, identified her as the
person who was apprehended and who bit the guard. The judge did not
believe Brim's mistaken identity defense and convicted her on both counts.

However, Brim's vehement claim that she was the wrong person
did impress Sears officials enough to review their store videotape of the
April 15 incident. They discovered that Brim was not the
person who was involved in the incident. After the prosecutor and
Brim's lawyer were contacted, the judge vacated her conviction before she
was sentenced. The woman on the tape was later identified as Chalaunda
Latham. She was not 15-years-old, she was 25. Latham was able to
pass herself off as Brim because she was a friend of Brim's sister. Prosecutors decided not to charge Latham because the Sears employees had
already given sworn testimony that Brim was responsible for the theft and
security guard assault. (Justice:
Denied) [3/07]

St. Louis County, MO

Johnny Briscoe

Oct 21, 1982

Johnny Briscoe was convicted of rape and burglary after the
assailant told the victim his name was John Briscoe. The assailant, who
apparently was an acquaintance of Briscoe named Larry Smith, also called the
victim several times following the attack, while police were still present,
identifying himself as John Briscoe. The calls were traced to a payphone
near Briscoe's apartment. The victim identified Briscoe as her assailant in
a photo lineup and in a live lineup. A search of the physical evidence by
Centurion Ministries turned up a cigarette butt smoked by the assailant,
which was found to contain Smith's DNA. Briscoe was released in 2006. Smith is serving a life sentence for a separate sexual assault at the same
apartment complex involved in Briscoe's case. (IP)
(KSDK 5) (CM)
[12/06]

Union County, NJ

David Shephard

Dec 24, 1983

David Shephard was convicted of rape and robbery in 1984. The
victim was abducted by two men from a shopping mall and later raped. One of
the assailants called the other “Dave.” The assailants subsequently parked
the victim's car near a building at Newark Airport in which Shephard worked. The victim identified Shephard as one of her assailants. DNA tests
exonerated him in 1994. (IP) (ABA) (CBJ) [6/08]

Johnston County, NC

Terence Garner

Aug 25, 1997

Terence Garner, a juvenile, was convicted of robbery and
attempted murder (shooting a woman, Alice Wise, in the face). Garner was
arrested after an accomplice to the crime informed police that the shooter
was named Terrance. Garner did not look like the real perpetrator, but was
identified anyway by Wise and her boss. Two accomplices with plea deals
testified that Garner was the shooter. Later a third accomplice testified
that they did not even know Garner. Garner was cleared in 2002. (NCAFJ)
(Frontline)
(American Justice)
[5/05]

Cuyahoga County, OH

Anthony Michael Green

May 29, 1988

Anthony Michael Green was convicted of raping a terminally ill
nurse who was receiving treatments for liver cancer. The crime
occurred at the Cleveland Clinic Center Hotel. The perpetrator had
told the victim his name was Tony. Green had worked at the hotel for a
short time, but was fired in March 1988 for getting into a fight with
another employee. Green's clinic ID badge was among a group of badges
shown the victim. The victim identified him at trial. The trial
also featured faulty and falsified forensics. DNA tests exonerated
Green in 2001.

Following Green's release, the Plain Dealer newspaper
wrote an article series about Green's ordeal. The real perpetrator,
Rodney Rhines, who had become a Christian and was living at the City
Mission, happened to read the series. He had not known that anyone had
been convicted for his crime. After reading the series, Rhines,
feeling remorse, confessed to mission personnel that he had done the crime
and wanted to turn himself in. The Rev. Brent Reynolds told him, “You
won't be coming back out once you walk into that police station.” “Yes, I know,” said Rhines. Rhines had once worked for the Cleveland
Clinic in the hotel kitchen. Even though the victim identified Green,
Green does not resemble Rhines. Rhines's skin and eyes are darker and
his face wider. Green was awarded $2.6 million in 2004 for 13 years of
wrongful imprisonment. (Plain
Dealer) (IP)
[5/08]

Allegheny County, PA

Toth, Sabol, & Rusnok

Jan 1, 1891 (Braddock)

Andrew Toth, Michael Sabol, and George Rusnok, all Hungarian
immigrants, were sentenced to death for the
beating murder of Michael Quinn. The murder occurred during a labor riot at
Andrew Carnegie's Edgar Thomson Steel Works. At trial, one witness,
Peter Mullin, testified he saw Toth savagely beat Quinn at Furnace C, while
two other witnesses testified that they saw Sabol and Rusnok savagely beat
Quinn at Furnace A. The defendants' sentences were commuted to life
imprisonment in 1892 because it was felt that the Hungarians, who spoke
little English, had not received as impartial a trial as three Americans
would have received. Sabol was pardoned in 1895 and Rusnok in 1897. It is
not clear why Sabol was pardoned, but in granting Rusnok's pardon, the PA
Board of Pardons felt that he had been mistaken for another man and that his
alibi of not having been at the riot was correct. Toth was denied a pardon
because of the direct testimony against him by witness Mullin.

Mullin's testimony became questionable when evidence surfaced
that Furnace C, at which Mullin saw the beating, was 500 feet away from
Furnace A where the other witnesses saw the beating. At trial it was
presumed the furnaces were much closer to one another. Since Quinn was
found, still alive, at Furnace A, he presumably was beaten there, and the
witnesses' testimony indicated he was uninjured before being beaten,
discounting two separate beatings. Thus, it seems probable that Mullin's
testimony was fabricated. In addition, Mullin initially identified a man
named Steve Toth rather than Andrew Toth as the man he saw beating Quinn. Andrew
Toth and Steve Toth were unrelated. Steve Toth
fled to Hungary, but confessed to the murder in Dec. 1910 shortly before his
death. Pennsylvania Governor Tener granted Andrew Toth a full pardon in
March 1911. (CWC) (CTI)
[1/06]

Dallas County, TX

Joyce Ann Brown

May 6, 1980

Joyce Ann Brown was sentenced to life in prison for the
robbery and murder of Rubin Danziger, a Dallas fur-store owner. The crime
occurred in Danziger's store, Fine Furs By Rubin, in Preston Center on
Northwest Highway. After the getaway car used by the two female robbers was
discovered, police found a car rental agreement in it signed by a Joyce Ann
Brown. However, the car had been rented to a different Joyce Ann Brown. Police and prosecutors discovered the error before trial, but proceeded with
the prosecution anyway. The victim's wife, Ala, had identified Rene
Michelle Taylor, as the robber who shot her husband, and Brown as her
accomplice. Taylor later revealed that another woman, Lorraine Germany, was
her accomplice. Germany reportedly has a startling resemblance to Brown. Investigation also showed that a jailhouse witness, Martha Jean Bruce, had
lied to convict Brown. Brown was featured on a 60 Minutes episode
and was freed in Nov. 1989. (CM)
(CWC) (Archives)
[5/08]

Dallas County, TX

James Curtis Giles

Aug 1, 1982

James Curtis Giles was convicted of participating in a gang
rape with two other men. Police knew before Giles' trial that the real
perpetrator was a teenager with an almost identical name, James Earl Giles. He lived across the street from the rape victim. Police withheld two sworn
statements identifying him. James Earl Giles died of cancer in 2000. James
Curtis Giles was released in 1993 and is on parole until 2013. He must
register as a sex offender. In early 2007, prosecutors are joining with
defense attorneys to get the wrong James Giles cleared. (IP)
[3/07]

Harris County, TX

Pedro Torres

Apr 17, 1983

Pedro Torres was arrested for drinking beer in a Dallas
convenience store. A computer check showed that he was wanted for the murder
of a Houston man. He then was tried for that murder and convicted,
reportedly because of eyewitness testimony. However, Torres's arrest warrant
was actually issued for a different Pedro Torres. Torres's work records and
and the other Pedro Torres's roommate helped to overturn his conviction.
Torres was released in 1986 after 8 months of imprisonment.
[4/08]

Harris County, TX

George Rodriguez

Feb 24, 1987

George Rodriguez was convicted of sexually assaulting a
14-year-old girl largely because his name was George. The victim had told
police that one of the perpetrators called the other George, but she did not
think it was his real name because they had discussed using fake names. Rodriguez's co-defendant identified a man named Yanez as his partner, but
Yanez was not charged presumably because Rodriguez was in custody while
Yanez was not. A prosecutor told Rodriguez's jury that blood type matching
eliminated Yanez as a suspect. Later tests showed a blood type consistent
with Yanez. DNA tests exonerated Rodriguez in 2005. Because of the statute
of limitations, Yanez cannot be charged with the 1987 crime. (IP)
(TruthInJustice)
(HC) [12/05]

Harris County, TX

Gilbert Amezquita

Feb 6, 1998 (Houston)

Gilbert Amezquita was convicted of aggravated assault after
Kathy Bingham was severely beaten at the Houston plumbing company where he
worked and which her family owned. Shortly after coming out of a
10-day coma, the still-hospitalized Bingham whispered to police that it was
“Gilbert” who had assaulted her. Amezquita was a U.S. Army reservist
with no prior criminal record. His appellate attorney, Roland Moore,
found that prosecutors had failed to consider that a second Gilbert - Alonzo
Gilbert Guerrero - also worked at the plumbing company. Moore
discovered that Bingham and Guerrero had argued a few days before the attack
and that Guerrero had Bingham's cell phone after the beating. Guerrero, who is now serving a seven-year prison sentence for burglary, did
not have a good explanation for how he came to possess Bingham's phone.

In 2007, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles recommended a
pardon based on innocence for Amezquita. News of the Board's action
did not please Bingham, who maintains that Amezquita attacked her. Governor
Perry subsequently pardoned him. (HC)
[6/07]

Mercer County, WV

Payne Boyd

May 30, 1918 (Modoc)

In 1918, a black coal miner named Cleveland Boyd was convicted
on vagrancy complaints. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and fined $25. The judge who convicted him, Squire H. E. Cook, and a deputy sheriff, A. M.
Godfrey, then prepared to take him to the jail at Matoaka. Boyd, however,
pleaded to stop at his home about 100 yards away where he could exchange his
new shoes for older, more comfortable ones. On stopping at his home, Boyd
retrieved a revolver and shot the judge twice, mortally wounding him. The
deputy sheriff fled for his life. Boyd fled into the hills and escaped
capture.Read More by Clicking Here

Milwaukee County, WI

David Sanders

Convicted 2008 (Milwaukee)

David Sanders, a Franciscan Brother and schoolteacher, was
convicted in 2008 of molesting an altar boy more than 20 years earlier. The victim who knew his molester as “Brother David,” picked Sanders out of a
photo array and remembered him as the man who taught him First Communion
rites at St. Vincent's parish. The victim also said he visited his
molester in Delaware. Sanders 1980s address was in the address book of
the victim's family. At trial Sanders' defense argued that Sanders had
never administered the victim's First Communion nor, as far as anyone could
prove, had ever been to Delaware. Sanders had worked at a number of
Milwaukee area parishes as a music teacher, but never at St. Vincent's.

Following Sanders' conviction, the victim's grandmother found
a letter written by a different “Brother David,” named David Nickerson,
which implicated that man in the assault. When confronted, Nickerson
admitted he molested the victim. Sanders was subsequently exonerated
after 5 months of imprisonment. Authorities were debating whether to
charge Nickerson, in part, because the victim is far from an ideal witness. In 2008 the victim was 30 years old and was himself in prison for molesting
a child. (WIP)
(MJS)
[11/08]

France

Omar Raddad

June 23, 1991

Omar Raddad was convicted of the murder of Ghislaine Marchal. Marchal, 65, was a wealthy widow who lived alone in the affluent village of
Mougins, near Cannes on the French Riviera. One morning when Marchal was
relaxing by her pool, her neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Koster, called over the
fence and invited her to lunch at 1 p.m. Marchal readily accepted. She
later telephoned a friend at 11:48 a.m. At 1:30 p.m., when Marchal had not
shown up at the Kosters for lunch, Mrs. Koster telephoned Marchal, but there
was no answer.Read More by Clicking Here